“Let’s see – I have a lot of books that I like because I just like to read stories, but I’ve got Under a Win: A Memoir by Reeve Lindbergh; Web of Dreams; a book of poems, which I love; Night Navigation,” Hill said.

What is Hill’s alternative now, with no more Borders?

“I would have to say the Internet,” she said. “The Internet – eBay; you’ll probably have to order your books, because there’s really no other place where you can go read, do your homework, or do the Web and all of that in one place. There are really not so many places other than Starbucks. But they don’t have books.”

Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Borders is closing all of its remaining 399 stores this week.

As recently as the beginning of this year, Borders operated eight Chicago stores, and several more in the suburbs. The oldest ones, at 830 N. Michigan Ave. on the Magnificent Mile and at 2817 N. Clark St. in the East Lakeview neighborhood, had been open for more than 15 years.